Vangelis "China 中國" 1979****

A few days ago, Greek music lost one of its most famous and beloved composers, Vangelis Papathanasiou - internationally known by first name only. He's mostly celebrated for his Oscar-winning soundtrack work, and as one of the progenitors of New Age, but he started his career in '63 playing organ and writing songs for Forminx, one of the most popular Greek pop bands of the 60's and inventors of the yanka dance craze - at least as everyone in Greece is (still) concerned. In reality Forminx's "Jeronimo Yanka" was based on a Finnish traditional tune called Jenka, but who bothered to check? Similarly, "Rain And Tears" -Vangelis' first big hit with his second, more famous, band Aphrodite's Child- was based on a piece by 17th century composer Johann Pachelbel. What of it? It's not about where your inspiration comes from, it's what you do with it that matters! Aphrodites Child were based in Paris, France, since its members were fleeing the oppressive Greek junta but couldn't get a visa for the UK which was their original target. After releasing seminal prog album 666, they broke up, with singer Demis Roussos enjoying a successfull MOR career and Vangelis delving further into progressive/electronic music. By my count, China was his 7th solo album in as many years, and was inspired by the history, tradition, and music of the Far East. The composer had never visited China, and neither does he explore its culture, tradition, and philosophy in depth. Instead, like so many European orientalists before him, he borrows some elements of its traditional art and derives inspiration from its landscapes to create an Oriental-flavored Western work of art. This doesn't detract a single iota from the album's worth. It's not meant as an introduction to Chinese music but as another exploration of the synthesizer's ability to create enticing soundscapes. This time it's not all electronic though. Vangelis accompanies himself on piano, as well as Chinese flutes, gong, and various plucked instruments, with the only external additions being the playful violin (more Balkan than Chinese-sounding) of "The Plum Blossom" and the narration of an 8th Century Taoist poem on the tranquil "The Little Fete". Despite the overall relaxed feel, the album starts off with a bit of elemental noise gradually settling into a melodic synthesizer piece with recurring electronic tones "Chung Kuo". The evocative piano of "The Long March" is followed by the more upbeat and electronic "The Dragon" with its percussive flourishes."The Tao of Love" is a beautiful oriental melody played on some kind of plucked instrument. "Yin & Yang" also starts with a lovely plucked melody, but this is undermined halfway through by a menacing electronic sound in the background that reminds me of Pink Floyd's "One Of These Days". Thankfully, Vangelis doesn't threaten to cut us into little pieces like Floyd did, and the song ends more or less like it started. "Himalaya" is a long atmospheric synthesizer piece that reminds me of Tangerine Dream whose Klaus Schulze, another wizard of the synthesizer, we also lost very recently. It evokes snowy mountain peaks, and comes to its conclusion with the cinematic "The Summit". All in all an immersive and relaxing experience, it is similar to ambient music but actually has the opposite effect: instead of negating other influences to help you clear your mind, Vangelis fills it with images and sensations taking you on a mental trip to an idealized, completely imaginary, China. If you enjoyed his music for films like "Chariots Of Fire" and "Blade Runner" you should love this, too. If, on the other hand, you're not already a fan of instrumental/synthesizer music, don't expect to be converted after listening to China.

**** for The Long March, The Plum Blossom, The Tao of Love, The Little Fete, Yin & Yang

*** for Chung Kuo, The Dragon, Himalaya, Summit

Green On Red "Green On Red" 1982****

I discovered Green On Red (GoR) around '85-'86 by chance. At the time I was into taping music from radio, especially Giannis Petridis' radio show "from 4 till 5". Petridis was a legendary radio figure - I think that for influence, raio show longevity, and popularity only John Peel can compare with him. At a time when radiowaves were strictly monopolized by the state, his show was our only regular source of information on "foreign" rock and pop, since state radio usually only promoted Greek and classical music. There were also pirate stations, of course, but these had weak signals and would appear and disappear without warning since the police were very much active in persecuting them. So I would sit next to the radio with my hand on the Rec button and wait for a song to start to press it. If, after a few seconds, I decided the song wasn't a keeper, I'd quickly rewind and wait for the next one. One of my favorite songs on these cassettes was Green On Red's "Sixteen Ways". The lyrics were dark and cryptic, and the music reminded me of my favorite classic rock bands but also sounded contemporary. I got their Gas Food Lodging LP soon afterwards, and played it a lot. I started going to concerts when I got into college in '88, which means I narrowly missed GoR's Athens concert in 1987. It was quite an eventful one, too: singer Dan Stuart apparently had a nervous breakdown onstage and left, marking the end of the band's classic line-up. I was sad I didn't get to see them, but all (well, some anyway) good things come to those who wait, so when the band reunited in 2006 they played Athens' Rockwave Festival, and I was there. I had a good time at their concert but, to be honest, the moment had passed. Sometimes timing is everything.

This EP found its way into my collection later still, but it's where the GoR story really begins - well, almost: there's a self-released EP called Two Bibles that predates this one, but very few heard it at the time (or even afterwards). This, eponymous, EP was recorded with the help of Dream Syndicate guitarist Paul Cutler and released by the same band's singer Steve Wynn on his indie label Down There. It catches GoR at the point after leaving their native Arizona behind and settling in California among like-minded artists to form a scene which the music press dubbed the paisley underground. These included, among others, The Dream Syndicate, Rain Parade, Three O' Clock, Opal (later Mazzy Star) and The Bangles before the latter went pop. All these bands exhibited a strong 60's influence, merging classic rock, folk and psychedelia but they did so with with the spontaneinity and energy of punk. GoR would come to be identified as the most country-oriented of the bunch, alongside The Long Ryders. At this stage of their evolution though, they were more psychedelic, often compared to The Doors because of the prevalence of Chris Cacavas' keyboards. There are also similarities in terms of the dark songwriting and passionate vocal delivery, although GoR's singer Dan Stuart conveys a sense of menace and desperation but none of Jim Morrison's seductiveness. The first notes of "Death and Angels" immediately take you back to the 60's, they could belong to any of those Nuggets compilations. The organ and backing vocals present a melodic contrast to Stuart's more aggressive lead singing. Fantastic opener, but at only 2:14 it's over way too soon. "Hair and Skin" is more psychedelic, slower and longer. Sort of a precursor to "Sixteen Ways", the song that introduced me to the band. "Black Night" is more Gothic/New Wavey, it has that cheap organ sound that I somehow associate more with 80's synth bands than psychedelia. "Illustrated Crawling" is another post-punk piece with lead vocals reminiscent of Gun Club's, while the organ has more of a Tex-Mex feel (i.e. sounds like Sir Douglas Quintet). That's all for the short but sweet Side A. Side B opens with another garage rocker called "Aspirin". The remaining two "Lost World" and "Apartment 6" are dark mid-tempo psychedelia, still good but missing the energy and immediacy of side A. Most critics say that Green On Red (a.k.a. the down there EP) is a "very promising" debut. I'd go so far as to say that it's the equal of the more celebrated, Americana-inspired, LP's that followed. Maybe the songwriting is less developed and the playing is more enthusiastic than it is precise, but I love the raw energy of this garage/neo-psychedelic direction, and how Cacavas' keyboards are more to the fore. You know how 80's music is sometime maligned for its clean but sterile sound that sucked the soul out of the music? Well, that may be true for some mainstream bands, but that's not the 80's I know and grew up with. Bands like Green On Red, Dream Syndicate, Gun Club etc...man, they were great! Consider this EP as Exhibit A.

**** for Death and Angels, Hair and Skin, Black Night, Illustrated Crawling, Aspirin

*** for Lost World, Apartment 6

The Tiger Lillies "Onepenny Opera" 2022***

A few weeks ago, we had the chance to celebrate my girlfriend's birthday at Berlin, watching a Tiger Lillies performance of Onepenny Opera. It was a perfect evening; The Tiger Lillies are probably her favorite band, and what better place to experience the Tiger Lillies' version of a Brecht/Weill play than a Berlin cabaret? We first discovered the band in late 2003 when we still lived in Athens, Greece. Their first appearence late that year was a smash, and some friends who had been there bought the band's CD's (then still not commercially available) at the foyer. Soon copies began circulating, and we were hooked by their unique blend of Tom Waits-ian jazz, waltz, gypsy music, Berlin cabaret, and British music hall, dominated by Martyn Jacques' accordion and inimitable castrato voice. His lyrics are also quite unique: he drew his inspiration from his experiences in the pre-gentrified Soho underworld, only to accenuate it to grotesque proportions. I'll quote from their press release, since I think it captures the band's essence well: they "inhabit a dark and cruel world peculiar and varied, with moments of deep sadness, cruel black humour and immense beauty... Their songs cover all the dark aspects of life, from prostitution and drug addiction to violence and despair. Always with a touch of twisted humor and sharp irony they point an implicit accusing finger back at us: what on Earth are we doing, laughing at this stuff?" The visual elements of their shows are also striking: when they returned to Athens in January 2004 (we made sure we didn't miss it) they presented their amazing Circus Songs show, featuring real acrobats and other circus performers. Until we left Greece for The Netherlands we hadn't missed a single show: The Mountains Of Madness, Little Match Girl, Sea Stories, Freak Show... But it's been many years since we had a chance to see them live - somehow the Dutch seem to be immune to their charms, so they never seem to be playing nearby. Back to the Berlin show, this is not the first time they cover Brecht's Threepenny Opera (itself based on John Gay's 18th century Beggar's Opera). Indeed, back in 2001 they had presented us with the CD Twopenny Opera. 20 years later, and one penny cheaper, they return to the site of the crime. This time, they follow the original work more closely - the songs are not simply inspired by the play, they are sequenced in the order they would be performed if we were watching the play unfold. During the concert, as well as between the numbers on the CD, Jacques' narration fills us in on the events happening offstage. Opening numbers "King Of The Cut-Throats" and "Macky Is A Swine" present our anti-hero's criminal activities, "Down With The Poor" his derpived childhood, and "Married", "Bastard" and "Hit Me" his relationship with Polly, daughter of the king of the beggars. "Bastard", as well as "Police" and "Finale I", are reprised from 2001's Twopenny Opera - not just the compositions, but also the performances. Despite the 20 years' distance, there is no obvious difference in sound and production, and it gives one the chance to hear original drummer Adrian Huge and guest guitarist Blixa Bargeld (of Einstürzende Neubauten -and formerly of the Bad Seeds- fame) in the older recordings. For this album, Martyn Jacques (vocals, accordion, piano) is accompanied by the Tiger Lillies' current incarnation: Adrian Stout (double bass, musical saw, theremin, back.vocals) and Jonas Golland (drums, back.vocals). Despite the "exotic" instrumentation, the album is plainly produced: what you hear in the CD, the trio was able to reproduce onstage exactly, down to Jacques' theatrical narration and customary sneer. 

 
"Police" is an upbeat number emphasizing the symbiosis between police and thieves, both corrupt in their ways. It focuses on Macky and the chief of police's former comradeship fighting in England's imperialist wars, and their current mutual understanding - the equivalent of Threepenny Opera's "Canon Song", only even darker and more cynical. Other songs from the Brecht/Weill play also have their lyrical equivalent here, e.g. "Poor Maid"/"Pirate Jenny". In the end, just like in the original play, Macky is rescued from the gallows at the last moment thanks to a royal pardon. In the original work, Brecht, true to his communist ideology, had already made the point that Macky and his band of cut-throats, beggars and whores are no better or worse than the aristocrats, bosses and cops. From killing the "brown and yellow fellows" and looting their land in the name of the King to robbing and murdering the rich clients of a whore, the difference is a question of scope rather than of quality. All Macky did, it transpires, is take capitalism's lessons to heart, so who are we to judge him? As he famously says at his trial "What is the robbing of a bank compared to the founding of one?" Taking this into account, executing the scoundrel would be a mockery of justice, so Brecht made an uncharacteristic break from realism and spared him his life. With typical black humor, The Tiger Lillies take it even further: Macky is not only pardoned, he also enters the service of the Crown, murdering and procuring prostitutes for the gentry. He's the same-old killer, only this time he's untouchable because he's joined the ruling class. He's come full circle, thus it makes sense to close with "Mack The Knife", the popular song that opened the original version. It is one of two Brecht/Weill covers here - the second is "Alabama Song". A puzzling choice to say the least: not only it's from a different play (Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny) but it doesn't fit in the plot. I can only guess that Jacques got so caught up in the Brechtian world that he felt he had to try his hand at this famous ditty, too. I must say that, while I enjoyed the Berlin show immensely, I found the CD less special; something of a slightly inferior reprise of their previous take on the subject, Twopenny Opera. The lyrics are, as always, delightful, but the music starts to seem a bit repetitive, at least for someone like me who already owns more than a dozen of the band's albums and can spot their frequent self-plagiarism. Compared to the past, there's a more pronounced use of theremin and musical saw, and Jacques sings in a slighly lower register, but it's otherwise business as usual. By Tiger Lillies standards, this is about average - it displays all their typical traits without any real highlights. Next to older recordings "Bastard" and "Police", the best tracks are opener "King Of The Cut-Throats", heartbreaking (or masochistic?) ballad "Hit Me" and poetic waltz "Soho Moon" - upbeat music hall number "Selfish Git" is also rather entertaining. I would certainly recommended this CD as a souvenir of the show, or to someone who likes the original play and would enjoy a different, twisted, take on it. For the full effect though, it's like the saying goes: You should have been there!

**** for King Of The Cut-Throats, Bastard, Police, Hit Me, Soho Moon, Selfish Git

*** for Macky Is A Swine, Down With The Poor, Married, Poor Maid, Free, Face, Alabama Song, Death Row, Finale I, Stupid Clown, Finale II, Victory Song, Mack The Knife